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Exile (Afrika-trilogien)

by Jakob Ejersbo, Mette Petersen (Translator)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 472 ratings · 36 reviews

Femtenårige Samantha gør alt det forkerte, først og fremmest fordi hun ikke vil gøre det rigtige, alt det, der forventes af hende.

Hun synes ikke, hun passer ind nogen steder. Hun er engelsk og hvid udenpå, men taler swahili og har boet i Tanzania, siden hun var tre.

Hun er ved at blive voksen, hun har en voldsom appetit på livet, hun har akut brug for holdepunkter i tilvæ...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published 2011 by MacLehose Press (first published January 1st 1998)

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Apr 01, 2013 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At first I thought I was not going to like this book and I nearly abandoned it. There is a very explicit rape scene and there is a scene where a cat is mistreated. However, having said that, life can be cruel and I wonder if this book attempts to describe human cruelty and superficiality at their worst. In its way it possibly illustrates the fact that society is pointing its finger at the wrong people.
The story centres around a girl called Samantha. Samantha is only in her late teens. Her mother...more

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May 28, 2012 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, african

I read this in English - Exile

Interesting book this

It tells the story of an English girl and her family in Tanzania in the early and mid 80s
it is the story of white boredom in Africa; of lost kids with nothing to do and no real responsibility; of the odd structure of African society; and of the sadness of an empty childhood.

I lived in Tanzania for a short while in the mid-nineties and this book really resonated with me. The ten years between the setting of the book and my time in the Africa coun...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Alanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, books-i-ve-read

I started reading this not knowing what to expect but I wasn't expecting to love the book. But I loved it (mostly).

To explain the "mostly" part: I hated the ending. Loathed it. I think it was awful, rushed, didn't fit in with the rest of the book and was one of those terrible endings that leave you with a, "Wait, that's it?" type of feeling - like you've read this whole book, read the character go through all of these things and in the end, there's really no closure or sense that anything was re...more I started reading this not knowing what to expect but I wasn't expecting to love the book. But I loved it (mostly).

To explain the "mostly" part: I hated the ending. Loathed it. I think it was awful, rushed, didn't fit in with the rest of the book and was one of those terrible endings that leave you with a, "Wait, that's it?" type of feeling - like you've read this whole book, read the character go through all of these things and in the end, there's really no closure or sense that anything was resolved.

And that part I hated? It was seriously like five pages max, right at the very end - I loved the rest (well, there was one scene with cruelty to a cat that I hated too but in a different way to the ending - the end felt like a writing fail, the cat thing was just that I am strongly against animal cruelty), so for the rest of my review when I'm being positive, I'm talking about everything but the ending because if I judge it as a whole then my review will just get too negative because of how much I hated the end.

The main character is a teenager, the story is about her life from about aged 15 until she's 18, but the content of the book is very adult (with her showing her age and immaturity quite a lot), it's unsugarcoated and uncensored (which I loved). I didn't always like Samantha, I actually kind of hated her sometimes, but she never bored me and I was hooked on the story from the start.

If you like books with, well, a typical plot that has a set beginning and middle and end then this book maybe won't be for you - it didn't feel like reading a book like that, it felt more like one of those stories that is like, "Okay, here is the character and this is their life when they were aged X to Y" showing highlights from their life and it had a very real and raw feel to it because of that.

The writing...in the beginning, it took some getting used to and I'm not sure why. I wasn't sure if I loved the writing or hated it but once I was into the story, I couldn't put it down and it's the kind of book that you remember and the way it's written is one of the things that you remember, it's kind of distinctive. But it's weird - I didn't exactly empathize with Samantha or the other characters, there was always a distance between me and them and I was caught up in their story but not the emotions...the way it's written, it's so in-the-moment of Samantha's thoughts that we never really get to properly know her or the other characters or figure them out (it's difficult to explain)...I don't mean that as a negative, it's just something about the book that just - is. And it was one of the things that made the writing distinctive.

I can't really pin point why I loved the book (my attempts above kind of failed), I just know that I was hooked from start to finish. Maybe it was how original it felt or the culture thing - I've never read another book set there or like this one (the culture has the same kind of fascination factor that books like A Thousand Splendid Suns and Anna and the French Kiss have).

In the end, my overall verdict was that I loved the book (although I really, really wish the ending was different - it felt like a different story; like a real and raw and grounded story turned into something that would've fit in more with a supernatural crime novel).

I would not have wanted to read the book based on the summary and the cover would not have caught my attention at all, it really isn't a book I would've read on my own so I'm really glad I was sent it to review because I'm happy I read it, it was awesome and you should check it out.

And I think that's enough rambling for one review. This one really is difficult to review.(less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Helene Uhrskov rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eksil, is written by the danish author Jakob Ejersbo, and is following Samantha, who has lived in Tanzania since she was 3 years old. Even though she is born english, she has through her whole childhood felt like she is more black than white. She has never had a close relationship to her family, which consists of her father, mother and her older sister, Alison. Alison and Sam has always been able to rely on each other when needed.
At Sam's boarding school she has never really felt normal, even t...more

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May 19, 2013 Hrafnhildur Hreinsdóttir rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mér finnst þetta góð bók.
Þetta er þroskasaga ungs fólks af vestrænum uppruna sem býr í Tanzaníu. Þetta er fyrsta bókin í trílógíu eftir Jakob Ejersbo sem hann byggir á reynslu sinni en hann ólst upp í Afríku. Jakob lést stuttu eftir að bókin var sett í hendur útgefandans. Sagan er ekki bara þroskasaga ungs fólk heldur líka saga af því hvernig vestræn ríki hafa farið með Afríku og afleiðingar arðráns þeirra. Sagan er sögð frá sjónarhóli unlingsstúlku sem er í uppreisn við fjölskyldu, skóla og sa...more

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May 19, 2013 Sigfríður Guðjónsdóttir rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Þessi bók hefur hlotið góða dóma hvar sem hún hefur verið gefinn út. Páll Baldvin Baldvinsson þýddi hana og ritar eftirmála en hún er fyrsta bókin í þríleik höfundar sem dó áður en þessi bók var gefinn út.
Bókin gerist í Tansaníu á níunda áratug síðust aldar og fjallar um enska stelpu sem er hvít á hörund en finnst hún hvergi eiga heima þar sem hún hefur búið mest af sínum tíma í Afríku.
Mér fannst sagan byrja rólega og söguhetjan pínu pirrandi. Eftir miðja bók tók sagan spennandi stefnu og mér f...more

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Jan 04, 2013 Raül De Tena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Desde “El Guardián Entre el Centeno“, cualquier novela que intente retratar el callejón sin salida de una adolescencia maldita se ha visto inevitablemente perseguida por la alargadísima sombra de la obra de Salinger. En la mayoría de los casos, la comparativa suele servir para enterrar mucho más que para ensalzar… Y lo cierto es que “Exilio” (publicada en nuestro país por Roca Editorial) bien podría verse lastrada por el recuerdo de Holden Caulfield y compañía, sobre todo porque es esta una nove...more Desde “El Guardián Entre el Centeno“, cualquier novela que intente retratar el callejón sin salida de una adolescencia maldita se ha visto inevitablemente perseguida por la alargadísima sombra de la obra de Salinger. En la mayoría de los casos, la comparativa suele servir para enterrar mucho más que para ensalzar… Y lo cierto es que “Exilio” (publicada en nuestro país por Roca Editorial) bien podría verse lastrada por el recuerdo de Holden Caulfield y compañía, sobre todo porque es esta una novela que en ciertos momentos se ve lastrada por su propia utilización de la reiteración como herramienta para exponer una juventud sin salida e incluso por cierto simplismo e incluso un prisma algo naive a la hora de apuntalar una trama que desemboca en un final en el que sobra el retruécano. Pero eso es lo negativo, y resulta que “Exilio” tiene muchos otros rasgos positivos capaces de deshacerse del espectro de las comparaciones y proyectar su propia sombra sobre las letras actuales. Para empezar, sus propias circunstancias: “Exilio” es la primera de las tres novelas de una Trilogía Africana que Jakob Ejersbo, autor danés conocido por su novela “Nodrkraft“, escribió a contrarreloj tras ser diagnosticado de un cáncer que le llevaría a la muerte en tan sólo diez meses a los 40 años de edad. Su intención con estos tres libros, inconexos argumentalmente y publicados de forma póstuma, era dibujar con trazos poderosos la relación entre Occidente y el Tercer Mundo.

De esta forma, uno de los rasgos más valiosos de “Exilio“, la primera parte de la Trilogía Africana, es que el proceso de autodestrucción de la adolescente Samantha resuena poderosamente dentro de otro proceso de descomposición mucho mayor: el de un país como Tanzania y el de una generación de blancos a la que le cuesta desprenderse de la vida facilísima que en un momento ostentó en un sistema social que los privilegió y que sigue tratándoles como intocables. Estamos en plena década de los 80 y la familia de la protagonista es la propietaria de un hotel fuera de las rutas turísticas del país, pero el lector no tarda en descubrir que su principal sustento viene de los trapicheos del cabeza de familia, antiguo soldado que ahora se dedica a formar a nuevos ejércitos que acabarían jugando un papel decisivo en la reforma socio-política de Africa. De hecho, en las primeras páginas de “Exilio” la hermana de Samantha vuela a Reino Unido a la búsqueda de una nueva vida, pero no tarda en volver aduciendo que los británicos no la entienden: es demasiado africana para UK y demasiado blanca para África. Algo que la propia protagonista sabe y que sin duda marca su propio proceso de autodestrucción a cámara lenta: con el fantasma del fracaso de su hermana recordándole continuamente su propio futuro, Samantha ve viendo cómo sus posibilidades se van viendo mermadas cada vez más y más. Es expulsada del instituto antes de tiempo a la vez que va consiguiendo que todos los posibles hombres de su vida acaben odiándola y, sobre todo, a la vez que se va enredando en las redes de una situación que no conduce hacia ningún sitio: un amorío con un hombre casado, “socio” de su padre y metáfora de los nuevos aires blancos que entran en África sabiendo que la militarización ya no da dinero y que lo mejor es explorar las sendas del contrabando de drogas. La propia existencia de Samantha va tocando fondo a la vez que el país que habita…

Pero no sólo este paralelismo entre la historia personal de la protagonista y la historia general de su propio marco físico e histórico marca la diferencia con la icónica novela de Salinger. Aquí también hay que mencionar en beneficio de “Exilio” un estilo post moderno (una primera persona fragmentadísima en cortos capítulos como ráfagas de metralla escupidas por una metralleta tartamuda) y, sobre todo, el hecho de que la auto-destrucción de Samantha no resulta ser un vacuo ensalzamiento del malditismo adolescente que se ha tendido a mitificar en las últimas décadas: la caída libre de la protagonista de “Exilio“, igual de inconsciente que la de Caulfield (es lo que tiene crecer entre algodones), resulta mucho más trágica al ser también mucho más extrema. Desde el principio del manuscrito, Ejersbo retrata de forma magistral un mundo de drogas y sexo que algunos personajes abrazan como herramienta de escapismo ante su propia infelicidad, ante su propia imposibilidad de vislumbrar un futuro halagüeño, sin darse cuenta de que más que una vía de salida ese mundillo es un pozo con un fondo oscuro en el que no hay agua sobre la que aterrizar, sino un lecho de piedras escarpadas dispuestas a romper el cuello de los insensatos que se han lanzado en picado.
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Nov 04, 2012 Anne Nikoline rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Anne Nikoline by: Signe Fejrskov

Shelves: danish-literature, own-a-copy, young-adult, adult-ilterature, 21th-century, culture, fiction, geographic-novels, social-issues

I did not sign up for the ending of Eksil by Jakob Ejersbo! One might say that the ending was the most obvious the author could have chosen, but I would have liked to see the main character turn out differently; I would have liked the author to show his audience that there is always hope, only there is not...

After I finished Eksil, a novel I received from the Danish publisher Gyldendal, I did a some research on the author and found out how he died from cancer very young. He is somewhat the prov...more

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May 26, 2012 Lisa (Badass Bookie) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating - 3.5

The Short Story? – For fans of Go Ask Alice, Exile is a powerful novel that tells the story of the downfall of a girl living in Tanzania, Africa. Exploring issues like drugs, sex and everything in between, Ejersbo has written a coming-to-age novel like no other. Exploring the dark side of growing up, Exile shows the ugly side of life and what happens when a good time turns bad.

The Long Story? – It’s definitely outside my comfort zone and I would normally give it a pass but Exi...more Rating - 3.5

The Short Story? – For fans of Go Ask Alice, Exile is a powerful novel that tells the story of the downfall of a girl living in Tanzania, Africa. Exploring issues like drugs, sex and everything in between, Ejersbo has written a coming-to-age novel like no other. Exploring the dark side of growing up, Exile shows the ugly side of life and what happens when a good time turns bad.

The Long Story? – It’s definitely outside my comfort zone and I would normally give it a pass but Exile was translated from Danish to English and the novel was only published after the death of its author, Ejersbo. The novels proved to be popular in Denmark so I gave it a go. As far as dark contemporaries go, this is one of the good ones. The blurb tells you absolutely nothing about the book, so here’s the jest. The book follows a girl called Samantha through four years of her adolescents in which she explores drugs, sex, alcohol and rebellion. It’s written for a more mature audience and it’s written in a diary kind of way. There are no chapters but the book is separated into years. It’s very similar to Go Ask Alice, however Exile also focuses on the life of white people living in Africa. Surprisingly it was a very easy book to get into. It covers quite a lot of heavy topics but the narration makes it comfortable to read. Quite an unexpected ending but overall, what a POWERFUL novel. One to be remembered.

There are so many things I want to say about the characterization. Samantha, our protagonist, got what she deserved but at the same time, I sympathized for her. She’s very rebellious and doesn’t have a good reputation among her peers but her attitude reflects on her upbringing. She didn’t grow up with a stable family and her actions are influenced by her parents. Her mum’s an alcoholic and her dad’s never home and he cheats. She’s fond of her sister but she never grew up with a good role model. Her actions, many of them, were wrong and she didn’t get a happy ending but it was the ending she deserved after everything she has done. I don’t want to spoil it but it’s about the life of a girl who is unsure of who she is and is slowly deteriorating away. The book solely focuses on Samantha and the other characters are really just there to support her. The characterization and the plot go hand in hand and Exile really makes you rethink what you know.

I know my review is very vague but I don’t want to spoil it but everyone. It’s one without a doubt that would be enjoyed by fans of dark contemporaries. If you liked Go Ask Alice, this one is a must-read. Ejersbo really knows how to hit the nail on the head and this novel is nothing is extremely powerful. Well-written and worthy of your time, Exile is a memorable story about everything that can go wrong when you’re a teen.
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Jan 01, 2012 Lauren Murphy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book, but it is such a difficult book to review. It’s hard to describe in words why this book was so engaging. It’s not your typical novel with a start, middle and ending. Rather, it reads like a memoir in the sense that it follows the protagonist over several years of her life.

Fifteen year old Samantha is not necessarily a likeable protagonist. She smokes, drinks, has a gutter mouth and is highly sexualised. But there is something very charming about her; she has a definite vulnera...more I loved this book, but it is such a difficult book to review. It’s hard to describe in words why this book was so engaging. It’s not your typical novel with a start, middle and ending. Rather, it reads like a memoir in the sense that it follows the protagonist over several years of her life.

Fifteen year old Samantha is not necessarily a likeable protagonist. She smokes, drinks, has a gutter mouth and is highly sexualised. But there is something very charming about her; she has a definite vulnerability that is endearing.

Sam lives in Tanzania with her parents and older sister Alison and is trying to find her place in the school for ex-pats. Only problem is that most of the teens at the school have just as many problems as her. Parents involved in corruption and frequently absent from their lives. It is not surprise that they just do whatever they like. Sam’s father is abusive and frequently on secret business trips while her mother is an alcoholic. The only constant in her life is her older sister, but Sam finds it difficult follow the success of her wise and likeable sister. Neither of her parents provide Sam with the stability she needs so she has no guidance and no boundaries.

So, Sam just does whatever she wants. Her desperate attempts to be loved usually results in the opposite because her defences come up and she either hurts herself or offends people. She is provocative with boys but also naïve and innocent in a sense. She uses her body to attract the attention of the opposite sex, but then doesn’t know what to do once she has their attention.

I thought her relationship with Mick was interesting; she really liked him but didn’t know how to express her feelings. Her relationship with Victor, at least fifteen years her senior was quite unsettling for me even though it was a consensual relationship, she was quite a vulnerable girl and there was something about him that made my stomach turn. Sam is strong and tough but also vulnerable and funny and these qualities provide a nice contrast throughout the story.

Despite the matter-of-fact storytelling it did evoke emotion in me as I followed Sam through her emotional ups and downs. I was completely taken by surprise for the ending, but it certainly fit with the path that Sam had taken throughout the novel. Exile is a very dark and cynical story so if you want a story where everyone lives happily ever after then this is not the story for you!

I can’t wait for the sequels to be released, Revolution in 2012 and Liberty in 2013. It’s a shame the author died before seeing this trilogy in print.

5/5 rating
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Sep 10, 2009 Christina Stind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, danish-authors, fiction, random-picks

Jacob Ejersbo is a Danish writer who unfortunately died last year only 40 years old, leaving behind three manuscripts, Eksil (Title in English: Exile) being the first one published. So far two has been published and the reviewers in Denmark have been going wild, especially about book two Revolution. Ejersbo has previously published the very popular Nordkraft that was made into a movie. Eksil is my first novel by Ejersbo and although it was not quite what I expected, I really enjoyed it.

How come...more Jacob Ejersbo is a Danish writer who unfortunately died last year only 40 years old, leaving behind three manuscripts, Eksil (Title in English: Exile) being the first one published. So far two has been published and the reviewers in Denmark have been going wild, especially about book two Revolution. Ejersbo has previously published the very popular Nordkraft that was made into a movie. Eksil is my first novel by Ejersbo and although it was not quite what I expected, I really enjoyed it.

How come it's always the children who pray the price when the parents screw up?

Samantha is 15 when the book starts. She lives in Tanzania with her parents and a sister. Dad is former SAS soldier and now he's a mercenary, working for various regimes and overthrowing others. His idea of child rearing is to hit when they least expect it so his children practice in taking punches without flinching. Mom is an alcoholic and not really there and the relationship between the parents consist of verbal abuse.

In this oh so stable environment, Samantha and Alison grow up - but a lot of the growing up takes place at a boarding school. When we enter the story, Alison is no longer attending the school so Samantha is there on her own - and hating it. She does everything - alcohol, beer, cigarettes and other smokeable things, boys ... - and she is in no way in control. These teenagers are all in various degrees of trouble and that create quite an atmosphere to come of age in. The relationships between them jump around - everybody switch partners and one week they are madly in love and then next week, they hate and revile each other.

Samantha is different from the other girls. She says what she thinks and the other girls hate her for it. The various nationalities attending this international school has various culture clashes and Samantha always stands out and feels like the other don't respect her culture - which is to show off her body...

Samantha parties hard and wild and as her parents' relationship worsens, her sister leaves home and marries, her friends leave school and her father business start to cause problems for the entire family's ability to stay in Africa, Samantha starts falling apart. And when a teenage girl falls apart with easy access to alcohol and drugs, things go really bad.

This was more of a teenage book than I expected but at the same time, it's a very grownup book. And it's a scary read. How she just falls through the cracks and nobody cares enough to pick her up and help her through it all. The only person who really cares is her sister but she has more than enough to deal with with her new life and her attempt to save her parents' hotel business.

The book also touches upon the troubled relationship between blacks and whites in Africa. Samantha is white, all her friends are white - but she feels black after having lived in Tanzania since she was 3. White on the outside, black on the inside. The whites live separated from the blacks - Samantha speaks swahili as the only one and loves Africa. She wants to stay, even when her mother moves back to England. But because of her father, it's not certain she's able to.

The book reeks of doom the entire way through. Samantha gets worse and worse throughout the book, she tries more and more and gets into worse and worse situations. As a reader, you are just waiting to see how bad it goes ... and in that, you are not disappointed ...(less)

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May 15, 2011 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, read-in-danish

Barsk og vedkommende "Nordkraft i Afrika"-roman, som er sv

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Dec 06, 2011 Estelle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't expect that she were this fucked up. The ending am I disappointed about but I think that the book is good. Really overwhelmed me because she had no future and those things she did. Why didn't she stop playing around with the guys? It's pretty much her own fault, should have listen to the people who have her advice. I also think that she should be together with Mick, they match pretty well and she does miss him but somehow, it went the wrong way.

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Dec 13, 2012 Steph rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-s-done-dusted

The book is not very in depth, which runs with the story, but it makes it difficult to get into the book properly, reading it kind of makes you feel like your thinking faster that you can put words down. An odd sensation.

I'll still read the other two in the trilogy and who knows hopefully they will get a little better.

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Aug 06, 2011 Eva-pernille Poulsen added it · review of another edition

Det er over min fatteevne, at en mand kan beskrive teenage-tilværelsen hos en rodløs pige så præcist. Og samtidig få beskrevet en del af hvid/sort problematikken nedenunder hovedhistorien. Læs den og få din teenage-datter til at gøre det samme!

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Oct 23, 2010 Mette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Selvom det er svært at identificere sig med en teenager på kostskole, synes jeg det er en fantastisk bog. Jeg kan lide fortællestilen. Det var en troværdi atmosfære af rodløshed og provinsialisme blandt hvide i Tanzania.

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Aug 17, 2012 Fatou rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book in one go, couldn't put it down. I think anyone who has lived in East Africa for a while will find something interesting in it.

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Jan 30, 2012 Mette Jensen added it · review of another edition

Rigtig god bog med spændende skildringer af livet som ung i Tanzania. Glæder mig til at læse de to næste bind i trilogien.

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Apr 09, 2013 Nora rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A must read for anyone who has lived in Tanzania. Fabulous insight to expat lives. (I read the English translation!)

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Jun 12, 2010 Karoline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love Ejersbo's books! It's socialrealism at its best, and the dark and mysterious African environment is fascinating

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Mar 20, 2013 Helena added it · review of another edition

Shelves: team-c-challenge

hmmm ég komst bara ekkert nn í bókina. var ekki að fíla hana. stíllinn er ekki alveg að heilla mig. kannski þarf ég að lesa hana aftur seinna, hef heyrt góða hluti um þessa bók en ég er ekki alveg með á nótunum

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Aug 29, 2012 Kayleigh rated it 2 of 5 stars

Simply put, I understand why people rate this book but personally I won't be running to buy the rest of the trilogy.

Realistic, raw, passionate and excruciatingly frustrating.

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Aug 07, 2011 Pernille Hauerslev rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Overraskede slutning ... nærmest på sidste side .... jeg vil savne hende ;)

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Feb 23, 2013 Vivien Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read it in the original language, after visiting East Africa.

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Dec 05, 2012 Mette Lauridsen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

God sprog, men ikke en af Ejersbo's bedste

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Jul 11, 2012 Kirsten Poulsen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hvde det dårligt over slutningen barsk bog

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Dec 20, 2011 August rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, skønlitterære, dansk

Uhyggeligt understimulerende ugebladslitteratur.

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Feb 25, 2011 Josephine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A little brutal reality from Jakob Ejersbo

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Apr 25, 2013 Anette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bogklub, læst-i-2013

Jeg har længe gerne ville læse Jakob Ejersbo's Afrika triologi, da jeg har hørt så meget godt om den. Og denne gang levede bogen op til mine forventninger.

Der er fuld knald på handlingen i Eksil, hvor vi følger teenageren Sam, der bor i Tanzania med sine forældre og søster. Forælderne er britiske.

Bogen består af ganske korte kapitler, hvor man følger Sam gennem tre år i hendes liv, hvor hun udfordrer sig selv og alle omkring hende med en grænseoverskridende opførsel.

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Aug 05, 2011 Mariann added it · review of another edition

WEEHAAA!

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About Jakob Ejersbo

Jakob Ejersbo is a writer who died young. He succumbed to cancer at 40, having published a volume of short stories and a novel, Nordkraft, which won the 2003 Golden Laurel Prize. But more importantly, it was hailed by critics and readers alike as a great new Danish novel, ushering in a new type of fiction that would draw a line under the minimalism and symbolism that had prevailed in Danish litera...more Jakob Ejersbo is a writer who died young. He succumbed to cancer at 40, having published a volume of short stories and a novel, Nordkraft, which won the 2003 Golden Laurel Prize. But more importantly, it was hailed by critics and readers alike as a great new Danish novel, ushering in a new type of fiction that would draw a line under the minimalism and symbolism that had prevailed in Danish literature during the late 1990s.

A gritty, realistic tale about disaffected youth in Aalborg, Denmark’s fourth largest city, it captured the Danes’ imaginations, holding a mirror to their society and rendering them as they saw themselves.

It was the last book Ejersbo would live to publish. He died in July 2008, just 10 months after being diagnosed with cancer. Throughout his illness, Ejersbo strove to complete his latest project, an ambitious trilogy about the relationship between the West and the Third World. Shortly after his death, his publisher, Johannes Riis, literary director at Gyldendal, revealed that he had left behind a manuscript and that it was virtually finished.

At a cumulative 1,600 pages, Ejersbo’s trilogy is a formidable work, and when the first part, Eksil, was released in Denmark in summer 2009 it caused just as much of stir as did Nordkraft. The literary critic Klaus Rothstein wrote in the Danish Literary Magazine that ‘seldom has anyone written anything so insistent and impassioned, so glowing hot and ice-cold, so heartfelt and so cynical’.

The trilogy is primarily set in Eastern Africa and explores the relationships between European ex-pats and the Tanzanians they live amongst. Ejersbo was not a writer for whom easy solutions and happy endings held any interested, and there are none to be found in these bleak but impeccably observed books. The trilogy is also formally inventive: two novels, Exile and Liberty sandwich a collection of stories that returns to the characters introduced in the first part.

In October 2011, MacLehose Press will be publishing Exile in English, translated by Mette Petersen. It is primarily the story of Samantha, the daughter of neglectful, abusive English parents, who takes solace in sex, drugs and lies but cannot control her destiny once the wheel of catastrophe has begun to turn. Revolution will follow in 2012 and Liberty in 2013. I’ll let Klaus Rothstein have the last word, except to say that we haven’t been as excited about a Scandinavian trilogy since Stieg Larsson's Millenium Trilogy:

"Jakob Ejersbo was a deliberate and original writer, who was not only able to maintain an artistic overview of the antipoetry of existence but was also capable of describing it in finely narrated and captivating language. Exile is an electrifying novel, and its final chapter – which gives the novel its name – shocks the reader as a shattering highpoint of modern Danish literature."

Klaus Rothstein, Danish Literary Magazine
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10166268-exile?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327996332l/10166268.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10166268-exile?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Exile by Jakob Ejersbo[/url]

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